Mark Hunter MP

LIB DEM YES TO FAIRER VOTES LAUNCH IN MANCHESTER

March 22, 2011 12:24 PM

Last Friday 18th March Cheadle MP Mark Hunter joined Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Simon Hughes, Party President Tim Farron and Baroness Floella Benjamin at the national launch of the Liberal Democrat "Yes to Fairer Votes" campaign, held in Castlefield, Manchester, ahead of the forthcoming AV referendum on May 5th.

The referendum will give every man and woman across Britain the chance to decide on whether or not the voting system should be changed from its current form - known as First Past the Post - to the Alternative Vote (AV) System. Under the proposed system, voters would be able to express their chosen candidates in order of preference, and no candidate would win in an election without at least 50% of overall support.

Commenting at the event, Mark said:

"I was delighted to be asked to be part of our official Yes to AV campaign launch, not least because I believe this is a genuine once in a lifetime opportunity to change our failed voting system for good.

"First Past The Post is simply no longer fit for purpose. It may have worked when 97% of the voting public opted for either Labour or Conservative as used to be the case many years ago, but it certainly doesn't work now when the two establishment parties earn less than two thirds of the votes cast - as happened in the most recent general election.

"We should not underestimate the power of a 'yes' vote in May, a yes vote will begin to tackle the 'jobs for life' culture in Westminster, a yes vote will give people a bigger say on who their MP is, and a yes vote will make all MPs work harder for those they represent.

"Current opinion polls suggest the referendum will be extremely close, and I urge everybody to use their vote to change the broken voting system to help create a better, more democratic Britain."